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Board approves limited variances and coastal site review for industrial addition on Mazarick Avenue
Summary
The Zoning Board approved variances for front setbacks and expansion of a nonconformity for an industrial building addition on Mazarick Avenue, requiring MS4 stormwater compliance and a sediment-and-erosion plan; the board declined to consider the loading-berth variance absent further clarification.
The Town of Stratford Zoning Board of Appeals voted Oct. 1 to approve two limited variances and the coastal site-plan review for an expansion to an existing industrial building on Mazarick (Mazrick) Avenue.
Tom Probert, designer and representative for the applicant, told the board his client needs to raise the building height to add headroom for a mezzanine and extend the rear by roughly 12 feet to improve receiving and unloading. The application initially listed multiple sections of the zoning regulations, including the loading-berth requirement (section 12.9); during the hearing the applicant acknowledged that the loading-berth citation may have been entered in error and asked the board not to consider that section until clarified.
Board members agreed not to act on the loading-regulation variance without clearer documentation. The board approved variances only for the cited front-setback regulation (section 10.2) and for an expansion-of-nonconformity request (section 14.2). The motion to approve was accompanied by several conditions: follow all recommendations in Mr. Brennan’s staff memo and ARB comments, provide a letter from a licensed engineer showing compliance with the town’s MS4 stormwater-management plan, and submit a sediment-and-erosion-control plan. The vote on the variances and the coastal site plan was unanimous, 5–0.
Board members discussed FEMA/coastal issues; staff noted that whether the project triggers a “substantial improvement” threshold (the 50% rule) and any resultant floodplain mitigation would be determined in the building permit review with the building department and DEEP/‘Deep’ comments. The board explicitly avoided conditioning the zoning approval on another officer’s permitting determination.
The applicant confirmed the property changed hands in September of the prior year; the board asked that the applicant coordinate outstanding coastal and building‑department items with town staff before construction permits are issued.
The board’s conditions are intended to ensure stormwater and erosion controls are in place and that required permit reviews are completed before or during the building‑permit process.
